Posts tagged Port of Mobile
ILA Starts Preparations for East and Gulf Coast Port Strike on October 1
August 6, 2024 // Bloomberg in its report highlights that that a strike would impact six of the 10 busiest U.S. ports. Trade groups presenting retailers and manufacturers have already called for government involvement to oversee the negotiations while many commentators point out the strike would come just weeks before the U.S. presidential election. “With less than 30 days to go before the end of our current Master Contract when these meetings are held, we must prepare our locals and our ILA membership for a strike on October 1, 2024. Two generations of ILA members have come into the industry since our last strike in 1977,” said Harold J. Daggett, the president of the ILA. The union has repeatedly said it would seek to oppose any future efforts at port automation and cargo handling and would also seek to roll back its past allowances.
Dockworkers Cancel Bargaining, Threaten Strike at U.S. Seaports
June 11, 2024 // Automation has been a flashpoint for longshore labor talks on both coasts. Daggett has vowed to stem the tide of automated machinery being used to lift, carry and stack containers on docks around the world. In a speech last year he accused the Biden administration of standing by while foreign-owned carriers use the machinery “to eliminate good paying American jobs.” People familiar with the negotiations say most issues specific to local ports have been resolved, but some issues, such as automation, are unresolved.
Longshoremen strike CSA operations at the Port of Mobile after mediation falls apart
November 28, 2022 // The International Longshoremen’s Association Local 1410 began striking CSA Equipment Company’s breakbulk operations at the Port of Mobile Tuesday, less than a month after the two sides agreed to federal mediation. There are four main issues at the heart of negotiations between the local chapter of the union and the stevedoring company: line handling (tying up vessels), retroactive payments to the union’s pension plan, the number of workers per unit and jurisdiction over stevedoring operations at the port. Currently, non-union workers can tie up vessels that union workers are contracted to unload with CSA, something that the union wants to change. Bass says the union wants to control line-handling for any vessels that they unload, which the union says was the case in the past. Line-handling control means more man-hours for union workers, Bass says, which is important because stevedoring work isn’t consistent. SSA Marine and Cooper/T. Smith,
Longshoremen’s union and CSA agree to mediation, holding off strike
October 24, 2022 // “We’re making the attempt one more time, with the federal mediator,” Mark Bass, president of the ILA Local 1410, said. The two parties have agreed to work with the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) to mediate the disagreement and agree to a new contract. Last week, the Lede reported that Local 1410 had voted to strike CSA operations, after union membership voted not to accept the company’s contract offer in September.